Herbal products can offer you a safe and effective alternative. UTI Medications - What You Need to Know One out of five women reading this article will get a urinary tract infection this year. Until recently, the standard UTI medication was a ten-day course of amoxicillin, a penicillin-type antibiotic that interferes with the cell walls of bacteria.

The most com choice at this time is a three-day course of the combination drug TMP-SMX (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole). They are expensive and are used in cases where the bacteria are resistant to other drugs, for catheter-induced infections and in. Antibiotics are the UTI medications of choice in most cases, but due to the widespread use--and misuse--of antibiotics in humans and animal feed, they are not as effective as they once were. Bacteria have become highly resistant to this one in some areas of the country as well. Twenty percent of them will get another in 18 months.

However, E coli, the most com cause of urinary tract infections, have become resistant to penicillin and its related drugs in about 25% of cases. People who are allergic to sulfa or who have had recent dental work cannot take this drug; and it can interfere with oral contraceptives.

Fluoroquinolones or quinolones, such as Cipro, keep bacteria from reproducing.